John Quinlan; Tail Gunner on Memphis Belle Bomber

John Quinlan, 81, the tail gunner on the storied World War II bomber the Memphis Belle. Quinlan joined the Army Air Forces in 1941 and was assigned to a B-17 named for the girlfriend of pilot Robert Morgan, who was from Memphis, Tenn. The plane’s 10-man crew was the first to complete 25 missions during World War II, all with no casualties. Their exploits became the subject of a wartime documentary and a 1990 Hollywood movie. Quinlan was credited with shooting down two German planes while aboard the Memphis Belle, which is now on display in Memphis. He also shot down three Japanese fighters after he was transferred to the Pacific theater. During the Memphis Belle’s legendary bombing runs over Germany, Quinlan kept up the crew’s spirits by singing his own version of “The Wabash Cannonball,” substituting his lyrics: “You could hear those Jerries say, ‘They’re flying straight from hell. They come to bomb the Fatherland. They fly the Memphis Belle.’ ” Quinlan, an engineer after the war, retired in 1980. On Monday in Albany, N.Y.